Very generally, electrical connector assemblies are used to interconnect lines or devices which carry electrical power, electrical signals, electrical data or other electrical transmissions. A typical electrical connector assembly includes a pair of individual electrical connectors which are mateable with each other. Each connector typically includes a dielectric housing which mounts a plurality of terminals for making electrical connection with the terminals of the other or mating connector.
Most often, a pair of mateable electrical connectors must be interconnected or mated in a particular orientation so that the respective terminals of the connectors make proper electrical connections. Therefore, a wide range of orienting or "polarizing" means are provided on the connectors to ensure that they are mated in proper orientation. Typically, these polarizing means are extra components or portions of the connector or the connector housing and, consequently, they must be taken into consideration when designing and manufacturing the connectors, and they usually take up space or valuable "real estate" on the connectors. This is a problem when space is of a premium, particularly in the ever-increasing miniaturization and increasing density of electronic transmission systems.
For instance, in mobile telephone systems, a portable handset is used and moved from one location to another. The handset may be mounted into a cradle in an automobile or other vehicle, often by a "blind mating" procedure. When not in the vehicle cradle the handset usually can be charged from sources, such as household or office electrical current or from vehicle current through a cigarette lighter receptacle. The handset, therefore, usually includes a conventional DC jack socket for receiving a conventional DC jack plug from an adapter which is plugged into the household, office or vehicle current.
It can be seen from the above, that the handset of a mobile telephone system has an electrical connector which is mateable within a cradle in a vehicle and which includes a conventional DC jack socket for use when the handset is outside the cradle. The handset connector preferably has some sort of polarizing means to ensure proper orientation of its connector end. Due to the ever-increasing desire for miniaturizing mobile telephone handsets, such polarizing means can take up valuable space in the overall design. The present invention is directed to solving these problems by providing a unique polarization system which utilizes the conventional DC jack socket which typically is used with the handset unit and which helps in locating the mating parts prior to engagement of the connectors.